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Babette LaMarca, PhD

Current research

My laboratory is interested in identifying immune mechanisms that cause hypertension during pregnancy. Specifically, my research focuses on the interactions between lymphocytes and autoantibodies in the pathophysiology of hypertension in response to placental ischemia. Over the years, we have developed models designed to identify how immune cells or their products cause changes in blood pressure during pregnancy.

We have a strong translational research component with our tight collaborations with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine department in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Through this collaboration, we obtain human tissues to study alterations in genes and or proteins in response to low oxygen environment or placental ischemia. Furthermore, we examine how novel therapeutics may provide an avenue for treatment in pre-eclamptic women by blocking these altered genes and proteins.